Reward offered in Ind. hiker death investigation

Published: April 23, 2012 2:01 PM

AMHERST, Va. (AP) -- A $10,000 reward is being offered for information about the death of an Indiana hiker along the Appalachian Trail in Virginia.

Media outlets report that investigators announced the reward Monday at a news conference in Amherst.

Hikers found Scott Lilly's body on Aug. 12, 2011, just off the trail in the Mount Pleasant National Scenic Area east of the Blue Ridge Parkway in Amherst County. An autopsy showed the 30-year-old South Bend, Ind., man died from asphyxiation.

FBI Agent Steven Duenas says authorities haven't found most of Lilly's belongings, including a pair of Ozark Trail hiking shoes.

Duenas says investigators believe Lilly was last seen alive on July 31, 2011, at the Cow Camp Gap trail shelter, a short distance from where his body was found.